As soon as I survive a week of work and cooking, Saturday morning rolls in and that means that my kids sleep longer and then become 'hangry' dinosaurs as soon as they wake up.
Mother's Day is around the corner and I expect to get breakfast in bed or a long relaxing brunch out. How does that relate to my dog who is a neutered male, you might ask?
Last night was one of those evenings, when everybody was hungry and I was tired. I had to come up with something fast and filling.
Chicken is almost universally loved in our house, even by my picky son. We cook it every way imaginable - grilled, baked, boiled, broiled, pan fried, crock pot, in soup, and smoked.
Saturdays are those mornings when my family expects pancakes. It doesn't even matter what kind, as long as it's a pancake - small, big, fluffy...
I am always on a lookout for new pancake recipes. I make various kinds for weekend breakfasts and...
It might be spring, but that doesn't mean that soup season is over. For us, Europeans, soup is a must no matter the time of the year.
Grub Hub is my best friend, but this kind of friend can't visit all the time or we'll go broke.
Bananas are good in just about anything, right? We use them in shakes, smoothies, fruit cups, and on their own, so why wouldn't they go onto pancakes?
This sounds simple, right? And to most people making burgers at home is probably nothing new. I recognize that we are an exception since our first burger at home was grilled just 3 weeks ago.
My goal for cooking is to always find something easy and fast. Sure, healthy too because I want my two kids to find balance in their diet early on, but still easy and fast.
Weekend mornings are for pancakes in our house, it has been that way since before we had kids, which is over 10 years ago.
Salmon is what I make when time is limited and when I get a fresh delivery from Instacart, which was a story tonight.
Easter this year will look different for many of us. Sure, not everybody will get together with extended families, especially if elderly people are involved, but still, no pandemic should take away family style Easter dinner.
Today, on this finally warm spring day, I understood that Easter is finally coming and I have to prepare for it making treats not only for my humans, but my dog too.
It's hard to believe, but spring is almost here! Texas might be under snow, but daffodils are beginning to bloom pretty much everywhere else. That means that pool, beach, and sun tanning season is upon us.
Dogs deserve the same treatment as humans do, especially after what they had to endure lately with us sitting home during quarantine and bothering them all the time.
Valentine's Day this year is going to be different - homemade. In the spirit of it I'm starting today with freshly baked butter and sugar cookies.
While we make steak all the time, we never marinate it, and I really have been wanting to try it for a good while. Advent evenings are definitely very suitable for grilling and trying something new, so yesterday I decided to make marinated steaks.
These cute pancakes are perfect for winter weekend mornings and it doesn't even have to be Christmas. They are easy to make, look great thanks to silicone shapes, and can be prepared with kids.
Making this simple meal always brings me back to my childhood. My own kids like it too, so I guess it'll remind them of their days growing up as well.
Steak is one of the dinner staples in our family. Both kids have been steak-obsessed since about a year old.
Roasted chicken is always good and probably universally loved. It is definitely a favorite in our house, after steak that is.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they say. I did not believe that until I got serious about my health and fitness regime - one has to start doing that when the 40th birthday approaches.
Slow cooked pork ribs are the ultimate comfort food in our house. We are not big fans of sweet BBQ sauce, so I make them with a seasoning mix instead.
This meal might not be very fancy, but it was essential to my childhood. It is also super easy and that's a huge benefit these days when life is so fast paced and many kids are learning from home often demanding two breakfasts, like mine like to do.
I think I mentioned this fifty times, but I am always looking for ways to get my kids into the kitchen for some cooking
Christmas is coming and so is the need for all kinds baked and cozy. While kids have ginger bread houses to build and cookies to decorate, pets tend to be kind of left behind.
When it comes to Christmas cookies, it's all about decoration, people! It's also about cozy family time and memory making opportunities with kids.
I don't care what retailers and Facebook are telling me with their Christmas decorations and spirit in November - it's still pumpkin time in my house and it shall remain that way until Thanksgiving
This pie is not really a pie, but for the lack of translation I named it a pie. It's a perfect desert or an after school snack - healthy, not too filing, and not very sweet.
I am done looking for healthy dog treats at pet stores. I tried many and while Marlo likes them all, I don't after reading the labels.
There are times when we need to detox and treat our bodies right.
When I went grocery shopping last time, I wanted something rich and melting in my mouth, so sirloin tip oven roast went into my cart.
Fall is for comfort food, at least that's what I always want when days get shorter and nights colder.
This recipe checks so many healthy and overall positive boxes - organic, vegetarian, good for cooking with kids, and amazing for Halloween.
Apple season is upon us and since we made our annual apple picking trip this weekend. While I was waiting treats from Chewy, I decided to bake my own.
Today was the first day that felt like fall - gloomy, cold, rainy, and windy. Nothing sounds better than fall off the bone slow cooked ribs on a day like this, even though my kids may disagree.
We made donuts with my daughter yesterday. We used a recipe from internet and it wasn't any good. They were dry and tasted more like cake than donuts. So today I decided to show her how it's really done - in Europe.
This soup is as dietary as it gets. It's also perfect for fall and all that colder weather we will be welcoming soon enough. It's rich, flavorful, easy to make, and very yummy. My kids have tasted every soup there is and have become quite the little experts. This one they approved, which is a high mark for soup.
We live in the South, but my husband and I are both not from here, so all the Southern cooking doesn't come naturally to me. Despite that, we are raising two little southerners, so I decided that I should introduce them to some staples and avoid awkward silence with their friends when they ask about some ribs and fried green tomatoes.
This recipe comes from my good friend. I tried this pudding at her house a long time ago and made my own version countless times since.
My kids are virtually learning and that for some reason means they are constantly hungry. Like, breakfast, 2 snacks, 2 lunches, more snacks, dinner, and dessert hungry.
Two things happened to me recently - I bought some amazing looking wild and never frozen trout and received my order of personalized kitchen supplies from Personalization Mall.
There is a mistake in the above title - this dessert is easily made with kids, but no baking is really taking place. It's a very fun project to do with children of just about any age, since no heat is needed and no hard work is involved.
Seafood is good for you, everybody knows that. I know it because I have spent enough time on Nutrisystem and Medifast and I saw their recommendations for real life food.
Let me start by saying that this was my first try and I made a very modified to accommodate kids.
Cold soups of all kinds are perfect for summer, and none are more perfect than this. I grew up on it in Lithuania and know that Slavic people have similar variations as well.
Today was one of those days when I had to have some detox from the weekend eating frenzy while having sleepovers with kids and drinks with friends. I needed something healthy and without potatoes.
This recipe is our favorite healthy 5pm snack on days when dinner is running a little late. Just a few years ago I lived in California, US capital of artichokes, and never knew what people do with them.
Today was the day when kids finally made me let them cook something. I always enjoy their initiative to help out in the kitchen, but I don't always take time to create recipes that they can do totally on their own.
Every time I go to Costco I have to buy a lamb rack or may daughter won't let me back into the house. She is the biggest lover of lamb and has been since about 3 years old.
Chebureki is an old Slavic recipe and still very popular in Eastern Europe. These deep fried creations resemble empanadas, just bigger, and are not known as a healthy food.
Sourdough waffles are our Sunday tradition that started before kids were born and still continues 10 years later. Everybody loves them and I enjoy how easy it is to make them.
After living in Georgia for 18 years, I discovered that its forests are full of chanterelles all summer long. This discovery for a lifelong wild mushroom hunter from Europe was life changing. I now know what I will be doing after each strong rain all the way through September!
Coconut based Thai soups are what I crave when I don't feel good and when I need something to boost my mood. They are a perfect combination of tangy, sour, rich, creamy, and all around goodness.
We try to eat fish at least once every week. It is not easy for me because I don't like fish that much. This is why I always look for ways to make cooking fish more interesting.
Apple pie is my staple dessert from childhood. This recipe is my mom's. At its most simple form it has regular flour and a few ingredients, but we both modify it now. She adds more ingredients, while I change flour to make it gluten-free and healthier.
Thai obsession started with me, but by now everybody in my family loves Thai cuisine. If we go out, we usually go to a Thai restaurant. With coronavirus dampening the spirit of dining out, I started looking for ways to entertain us at home.
I would like to crown myself a queen of soups. Eastern Europeans like me don't survive long without soups and rightfully so. Soups are great for diets and are easy to make with whatever ingredients you have at home.
On the Old Continent we call this dish plov. The closest translation is rice pilaf, so be it. If you ever travel to Uzbekistan, Georgia, and other regions around them, you will definitely be served plov.
Soup is like a dietary medicine for me. After a party weekend or any other random face stuffing day I always make beet or cabbage soup and eat it for 2 days. After those two days I feel light and ready to conquer the world again.
After being on Nutrisystem for a while, I am enjoying real world cooking that my entire family can eat. I am watching my portions, always, and choosing low calorie food whenever I can.
Nutrisystem doesn't totally leave my life even though I am not on this diet any longer. I stayed with it enough to figure what I needed to take away from it, which is cooking healthy, often, and not overeating.
This meal is not something you will find in American recipe books. It came from Eastern Europe and is still loved there. I like it because even though it's not a diet food, it is very filling and also gluten free.
Nutrisystem taught me portion control. Gluten-free diet taught me the art of substitution and clean eating. Organic products continue to teach me how important it is to treat our bodies like temples.
This meal is one of kids' favorites and gets requested all the time. Of course, they would go for regular pasta and no veggies, but I insist on making it healthier, so it's gluten free. For some reason my babes love all the raw vegetables, but as soon as I roast a pepper, it becomes a big no-no.
Nutrisystem inspires me to cook healthier not just for me, but for my family too. While I watch my portions carefully, I choose healthier ingredients as well and foods that are good for me. I am never going to my overeating self again!
I have been on Nutrisystem for a few months and am ready to start my slow transition to normal foods. While I liked Nutrisystem meals and found them very convenient, it is time to wean myself off this diet and rejoin my family in eating meals together.
These easy pancakes are my mom's recipe and came from Eastern Europe. Besides being simple to make, they are very forgiving, healthy, and can be modified however you want.
This dish came from mountainous region of North Georgia, Svaneti, and is loved by all who try it, even if they have nothing to do with Georgia at all. It is a very specific dish and should be followed precisely, but it can be modified easily to fit your diet.
Khachapuri is as Georgian as it gets. Travel there and you will get Khachapuri as a starter, as a side dish, and as the main meal for lunch everywhere you go. It is rich, flavorful, and oh so good!
The original recipe is for 24 cookies, but after cooking for my family one time I decided to double the ingredients to make about 50 cookies. You are welcome to reduce the portion or make it even bigger.
The recipe makes about 50 vegan cookies. You can increase or decrease the portion. The first time I made those delicious cookies, it was only 24 of them, and my kids ate them in one weekend, so I knew I needed a bigger batch.
This recipe makes about 50 cookies. You are welcome to increase or reduce this amount and use less or more ingredients accordingly. I am going to describe how I made the cookies using organic ingredients, even though original recipe did not call for them.
Before starting work turn on the oven and preheat it to to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Low temperature is desired for even and slow cooking of cookies. Wash your hands and begin
It's worth mentioning a few things about three of the ingredients. First, the King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour - we recommend using this particular brand because you can buy it in all natural food grocery stores and it is better than many other brands.
Made with wholesome ingredients, these sweet treats can be healthy, so let's get cooking and not be afraid to substitute ingredients in the name of heath and superior taste.
The recipe of this made-from-scratch dough will make about 5 personal pizzas or one large, family size, so adjust the quantity of ingredients accordingly if you want to serve more or less people.
This recipe makes 2 small cakes
You should use strawberries with green stems still intact as they look better this way and the stem can be used as a handle while dipping it in chocolate.
You can color the cookies to your desired pink or red color with food color or leave them natural.
This list includes 1 recipe for Vanilla Buttercream and 1 recipe for Dark Chocolate Ganache.
The origin of this meal is debatable. I think that many Slavic nations would fuss about Mennonite community claiming them theirs, but this recipe is not about that. Many people love these decadent treats worldwide.
Looking for a quick and delicious dessert? Apple Charlotte is just perfect for teatime! And the aroma of cinnamon pervading the house when it is being baked will help create a festive Christmas atmosphere.
French cake "Shu" looks much like profiterole, but "Shu" has a unique feature which is called "craquelin".
Tender, spicy, with juicy apples inside, the benefits of this delicious baked product are endless, and what's very import, it is fast and easy to make.
My guess would be you have no idea if you were born in the US, what quark is. Sounds like a duck call. But it is actually a light creamy cheese that is similar to Greek yogurt or sour cream. It has way less calories and is higher in protein. It is great for baking. And it makes the Kasekuchen a German cheesecake.
Nougatine is a substance used in frozen dessert making. If you want a nougatine that is easy to work with, use almond grains. If you need a thinner nougatine, use sliced almonds instead.
Vacherin is French dessert. It is usually made with meringue that is filled with whipped cream or sometimes ice cream.
ICE CREAM, SORBETS, AND ICED DESERTS
If there is a unicorn of the dessert world it would have to be Baked Alaska. Everyone has heard of it but few have ever seen it in real life. Probably because it has three components that make it difficult to make at home.
To make an excellent pizza crust can be done at home with simple pizza dough and a recipe that is easy to follow but yet critical in following instructions to make sure you get that same great pizza crust.
The celebrated patissier Coquelin bought La Patisserie Bourdaloue (which is still up and baking on the rue Bourdaloue) in 1909, and created, among other things, this famous pear tart with frangipane / almond cream. Certain desserts stand the test of time and one of those classics is la tart bourdaloue. It has remained one of my favorites, both to make and to eat.
